First Look

The Shinmeiwa Industries PS-1 flying boat was an indigenous design to provide the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) with an anti-submarine warfare and air-sea rescue capability in the waters that surround the Japanese islands. Shinmeiwa Industries descended from the Kawanishi Aircraft Company who produced a wide range of flying boats and floatplanes during World War II. Development of the PS-1 started in 1960 as the UF-XS which was a large flying boat that featured a short take-off and landing (STOL) wing, a super-sized hull based upon the Grumman HU-16 Albatross, and powered by four turboprop engines plus a turbine engine in the fuselage who's thrust is vented over the top of the wings for boundary layer control for enhanced STOL performance.

The PS-1 entered production in 1969 with 21 aircraft built. 19 additional aircraft were procured without the anti-submarine warfare equipment installed to serve as PS-1 air-sea rescue aircraft. The PS-1 remained in service as the JMSDF's ASW platform until 1989 when it was replaced by the P-3 Orion. The PS-1 served into the 1990s and entered an upgrade program that included new engines and now operates as the US-2.

This new release from Platz is actually two complete kits in one box. The kits are not duplicate sprues as with some previous releases, this release has the older PS-1 and the re-engined US-2 in the box. Both kits are simple builds as you might imagine in this scale but I recommend some modeling experiece due to some small/delicate parts. The kits are straightforward with the only real option on both aircraft is posing the landing gear up or down.

Markings are provided for three examples which include:

US-2, 9904, JMSDF

PS-1, 5822, JMSDF

PS-1, 5801, JMSDF

If you're staring at the two kits and still can't see the difference between them, the US-2 has the six-bladed propellers while the PS-1 still has the three-bladed props.

Notice: The appearance of U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense, or NASA imagery or art does not constitute an endorsement nor is Cybermodeler Online affiliated with these organizations.